


Empyre

by The_Crawling_Chaos



Series: The Ascension of a Son [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst and Feels, BAMF Leia Organa, BAMF Luke Skywalker, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark, Force Bond (Star Wars), Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Gen, Jedi Leia Organa, Jedi Mara Jade, Mind Manipulation, Misuse of the Force, POV Alternating, Seduction to the Dark Side, Sith Holocron, Sith Luke Skywalker, Sith Rituals, Sith Training, Skywalker Family Drama, Skywalker Family Feels, The Dark Side of the Force, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Crawling_Chaos/pseuds/The_Crawling_Chaos
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…Schism in the Jedi Order! Son of the Sith Killer Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, has fallen to the Dark Side of the Force in a devastating stroke of a lightsaber. With Mace Windu dead and one of their greatest pupils missing, the Jedi Council hastily promote some of their best padawans to Knights in an attempt to find the wayward Skywalker and bring him to justice. Meanwhile, the newly minted Sith Lord menaces the Outer Rim and Unknown Regions, looking for allies sympathetic to his cause. And he may yet find some unlikely friends in some unlikely places…
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Mara Jade & Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: The Ascension of a Son [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669306
Comments: 12
Kudos: 63





	1. Crimson

The icy caves of Ilum were unforgiving. Cold, biting wind swept through the narrow tunnels with a ferocity meant to drive off those unworthy few that dared to venture there. Stalactites dropped from the ceiling like fangs, but the Kyber crystals were the worst of all. They blinked and flickered in the darkness with a glowing intelligence that even the Force-null could feel. Their Light was pure and raw with untamed might, and right now, as an intruder approached them, that Light shone brighter than ever. 

There was a man standing in their sacred cave. He was wrapped in an oversized black cloak that carefully concealed his heavy blackish red armor underneath. He made for a striking figure in the crisp and clear white caves of Ilum. And what was even more disturbing to the crystals, however, was his utter _wrongness._ The stranger did not give off Light like all the previous Jedi that had come before him, no. This man was a living storm of unrelenting Darkness. The Dark Side of the Force ripped and raged throughout his entire being, from head to toe. It surrounded him and ghosted his every step. What manner of creature could command the Darkness so completely yet be so dominated by it?

As if he could sense their disturbed curiosity, the Stranger in black approached. 

He put his gloved hands to the snow goggles he was wearing and lifted them off his eyes. _Those eyes._ If the crystals weren’t frightened and put off at first, they certainly were now. His eyes were the blazing yellow of the _Sith._

It was with these baleful eyes that he scanned the crystals. He glanced over every one of them with a predatory glare. One of these crystals was his for the taking, and nothing would get in his way. 

Screaming. The Stranger heard _screaming_ from the Kyber crystals. They were trying quite desperately to ward him off, to divert his attention anywhere else, to _anything_ else. Within their icy surfaces lay a power that must not come into the hands of the Sith lord. They _would not_ be enslaved by a Lord of Darkness. It was with this revelation that the crystals resolved to scream louder. 

Scream they did, but deter the Stranger, they did not. He just kept on approaching with no regard for the bloody murder that came from the Kybers. In fact, he seemed to perk up as he neared the fearful crystals. Their desperation and prey-like fear surrounded him and seeped into his being with a shudder. It felt so good to absorb all their terror into himself; it only made him stronger and more grounded in the Dark Side. 

“You look so pretty. Won’t you join me for a little _fun?_ ” The Stranger said as he plucked one of the crystals from its nesting place. His voice was so young, yet it held a strong tone that spoke of a boy grown up too fast. 

He examined his captured crystal with those _dreadful_ eyes. It appeared satisfactory for his needs. 

The crystal did not feel the same way. It shrieked like a cornered animal, with all the might that it could muster. As a last resort, it cried out again, but this time in language. 

_ Sith!  _

_ Evil!  _

_ WRONG. _

The Stranger’s eyes narrowed in barely restrained rage. The Dark Side danced recklessly within him and roared to be released. This crystal was being disobedient...that would not do at all. 

He closed his hand around it, smothering the Kyber’s pitiful cries. He focused on it and pictured the crystal’s being inside his mind. He felt the Force thrum to life in his palm, and it whispered to him all that he needed to know. It spoke of a way to claim an unwilling Kyber Crystal as his own. Not just claim it but to dominate it and control it utterly. This new information earned itself a crooked smile from the Stranger. 

The crystal tried again to scream. It was all in vain; the crystal’s captor was completely focused on his own center, that raging well of Dark Side energy that drowned him. He reached into it and felt around inside its bottomless depths. He wrestled control over it and dragged it to the surface. His eyes blasted open and glowed like tiny suns ringed with red fire. The Force was  _ with him.  _

The crystal felt the Force ram into it like a pickaxe to ice. It was being chipped away, slowly becoming exposed to all the emotions that this dark Stranger carried with him. An old wound was being torn open again by a careless knife; grudges that should have been settled long ago were suddenly remembered and old fear was once again experienced. Emotions sprang from these wounds and flowed into the weakened crystal. Its Light was being infiltrated and suppressed by the blackest Night. 

Crystals weren’t supposed to feel, but this one did. It was alive after all, and had felt life since its creation. But now all it felt was death. 

“Bleed. Bleed for me, and the pain will stop.” He had whispered to the crystal entrapped in his own palm. “Show me your obedience.” 

The pain was so sharp. All the anger, fear, jealousy, and greed were too much for the Kyber to process. It buckled under the strain of all the emotions flooding it and let down its final defenses. It was compromised at the very core of its existence, and no amount of Light could heal it now. But, the crystal did not feel the Force-less void for very long; the Dark Side swiftly embedded itself into the hole that the Light had abandoned. The Dark burrowed deeply into the crystal and struck as many painful nerves as possible. There was no more resistance. The crystal had to bleed. 

The Stranger had never seen a crimson Kyber crystal before in all his years at the Jedi Temple. Now he could proudly claim otherwise. 

The crystal was blood red. It was drowned in the Dark Side, and hummed softly in his hands. It connected with him through the Force and bridged their two consciousnesses. It recognized him as the Master that had dominated it. 

He smiled. This crystal was  _ his, _ purely his, and would never defy him. Its will was his will, and its power his to command forever more. 

The Stranger brought out the hilt that the newly corrupted crystal would reside in. It was of his own design, entirely different from the old Jedi build of his last lightsaber. Its obsidian covering nicely complemented its black ridged handgrip and powercell chamber. It was a formidable weapon that had been rigged for the very crystal that he held in his hand. 

With a menacing  _ snap-hiss,  _ the crimson blade thrummed to life. It cast Luke Skywalker, now christened Starkiller’s, face in a red glow. His hands explored every edge and ridge of the weapon, spinning it in his hands with the grace of a master swordsman. It sat in his grip with a comforting weight, the warm glow it cast mirroring his luminous eyes. This was the true weapon he was meant to have, there was no doubt about that. 

The ice cave grew suddenly quiet. The other crystals no longer chattered or clanked in fear. The biting winds no longer howled and scratched at him. All was still as death. The most sacred place of the Jedi, Ilum, had been defiled by the presence of a Sith Lord. There was no going back now. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, that's the first chapter of the next part in the Series! This was technically a prologue for the real juicy stuff, which will start ramping up in the next few chapters. I'll be sprinkling in a lot of good stuff from the EU and SWR hopefully, so look out for that. And I'm hoping that this story will go on quite a bit longer than the the previous installment, so buckle in friends. It's going to be a wild ride.


	2. Knight

Leia felt a tug in the Force during her Knighting. 

It was like a sharp blade dragging along her senses, pulling at her attention greedily. She almost whipped her head up in distress at the sensation, but stopped herself when she caught sight of the lightsaber that hovered in her peripheral. Her Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, dipped the lightsaber over both her shoulders and smiled sadly. She may have been ready for Knighthood, but this was certainly not the situation he would have liked it to happen in. 

“Rise.” 

Leia obeyed, for the final time in her apprenticeship. 

“I now grant you the rank of Jedi Knight, for your astounding performance in your Jedi Trials.” He paused for a moment. “I am proud to have called you Apprentice.” 

She smiled radiantly. “And I’m proud to have called you Master.” 

Then, after several seconds of holding back, she launched herself onto her aging Master. Obi-Wan embraced Leia back, his eyes closing in contentment. Their Force Bond was alight with shared pride and joy, momentarily unimpeded by thoughts of their fallen brother. 

They parted after what felt like hours, but was actually only minutes. Leia cleared her throat. “I guess this means I get to go on missions by myself now.”

Obi-Wan grinned, recognizing the gleam of mischief that began to sparkle in his former padawan's eye. “I believe so, yes.” 

“Brilliant. Now I can-” Her sentence cut off suddenly when a searing pain scraped over her mind. It was another Force Bond connection, but unusually strong and insistent. It dragged dark talons down her mental shields like a hungry Krayt Dragon, urging her to establish the connection back. Without any words being exchanged, she knew who it was that was tormenting her. 

“-eia? Are you alright?” She snapped back to reality and saw Obi-Wan hovering near her. His face was plastered with slick worry and anxiety. She instantly schooled her features into classic Jedi impassivity; her Master had enough to worry about, there was no sense in further adding to his stress. 

“Oh, it’s nothing. I've just been having these wicked migraines these past few days. Nothing to fuss over, Master, really.” Obi-Wan raised a single eyebrow at her in response. He was clearly not buying it. 

“I’m being serious, it’s really _nothing_ for you to worry about. We’ve _all_ been stressed ever since... _it_ happened. Cut me some slack.” These words finally seemed to put Kenobi at ease, though a new kind of pain still lanced through his eyes. The Incident. Mace Windu’s death. That had indeed been extremely stressful, there could be no doubt about that. The aftermath had been even more hectic. A funeral had been held and then the Council had immediately congregated. All the Masters were present physically, none considering their current missions more important than the death of their friend. There had been silence at that meeting. A cold, chilling kind of silence that pierced the heart of even the most stoic Jedi. 

One of their own had turned to the Dark Side. Right under their noses. 

They had failed. No one had foreseen it, no one had the chance to stop it. Luke Skywalker’s Fall, an inevitable tragedy that the Masters _should_ have felt. The Darkness they felt the day of Windu and Skywalker’s duel...it was so thick and all encompassing. It disturbed the Force with such fury and hate, every Jedi within the Core had felt it. 

So why hadn't his turn been prevented? How was the padawan able to conceal his rising power in the Dark Side from the entirety of the Jedi Order? 

How had it come to this? 

Leia grabbed Obi-Wan’s hand and gently brought him out of his trance. She knew the look in his eyes all too well; it had been the very same look she herself had sported days, even weeks after the Incident. 

Obi-Wan shook his head to clear himself of the rising emotion in his chest. It would not do to get all depressed at his padawan’s knighting. It would not do at all. 

He cleared his throat. “Well, I expect that you’ll want to get started on missions as soon as possible then?” 

She nodded curtly. “Whenever the council deems me ready.” She paused, her back arching in baited breath. “I know I can get through to him. As soon as you let me go out...I’ll bring him back to us.” 

Her words elicited a weary smile from her former master. “For all our sakes, I hope so. If anyone could do it...it’d be you.” 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


Mara Jade had heard about “The Incident” just like everyone else. It had been shocking, of course, to hear that one of their own had turned to the Dark Side and murdered a Jedi Master. But what had been even worse was hearing _who_ exactly had committed such an act. 

_Luke Skywalker._

She had heard that famous last name thrown around everywhere. It was never far from some starstruck youngling’s mouth, and it annoyed Mara to the very end. She could never escape the vicious rumors flung around in the padawan circles she was a part of; Skywalker this, Skywalker that. Eventually she just stopped talking all together whenever that name was brought up. 

But just because she was sick of the _last_ name...didn’t necessarily mean she was sick of _Luke._ Far from it, actually. Whenever she caught a glimpse of him sulking in the Mess Hall or training rooms, she always found herself staring. He was so different from how the rumors painted him. He didn’t have an eight pack and immaculately styled black robes. Instead, he was an absolute mess. His hair was a blond rat’s nest that always got in his eyes. His robes were indeed black, but always rumbled or stretched in motion. And finally, despite what the smitten padawans said...he was gangly and skinny. Muscled, no doubt, but also pleasantly smooth.

He was such an odd assortment of traits. His sad eyes were big and expressive, and seemingly incapable of hiding his ever present emotions. She would watch him occasionally when he graced the Mess with his presence; he didn’t often come anymore for some reason he refused to divulge. He would grab his food quickly, then sulk in a corner while picking at his food. Never would he actually eat it, which always struck Mara as odd. Usually boys their age were ravenous and never full. Not Luke Skywalker though. He was as empty as a bottomless pit. And it was into that pit that Mara Jade stared. 

She wished she had the courage to approach him and inquire about what was wrong, as there was _definitely_ something wrong. But he always left before she could pluck up enough bravery. 

And then he had _killed_ his own master and embraced the Dark Side. 

What if Mara had just swallowed her nervousness and talked to him one of those times? Could she have seen the Darkness brewing there within him and reported it? Or could she have convinced him that it wasn’t what he wanted? Or maybe she would have been the one he cut down in place of Mace Windu at his discovery. So many possibilities and what ifs...

But Mara Jade wasn’t the type of creature to dwell on the past. She preferred the present, and all it had to offer. And it was currently offering her a mission from the  _ Council  _ itself. How exciting for her first day on the job as a Jedi Knight!

She pushed open the door to the Council’s audience chamber and frowned. There was already a Knight standing in the middle of the circle; Leia Skywalker. Wonderful. 

“Ah, Mara Jade. Come in, you should. About to begin, we were.” Yoda said as she slowly walked to join Leia in the center of the room. 

Annoyance itched at her as the other Masters started to congratulate the both of them on the passing of their trials. Why was the other Skywalker twin here? It couldn’t be because she was  _ already _ going on a mission? The Order must really be desperate to bring the new Dark Jedi to heel. 

“Since you had done so well in your trials, we have decided to send you both out on a mission together.” That declaration from Master Plo startled Mara from her thoughts.  _ Both  _ of them? Going on a mission together? That couldn’t be it. Leia and Mara Jade had almost never interacted before in their time as padawans, and even when they had met on occasion, it was almost always in a competitive or hostile manner. This mission was doomed from the start. 

“Masters, with respect, I don’t think that’s a very wise idea.” Mara’s voice came out a little too clipped to be called amicable. 

Yoda snickered. “And be sent out alone, you would rather? Face the new Sith Lord alone, you could. But Fall into the clutches of the Dark Side, you might. Powerful it has become in our complacency, yes. Allowed it to rise in Luke Skywalker, we did, but let it continue rising, we must not.” 

Mara pressed her mouth into a thin line at the Grandmaster’s heavily drawled words. She could see the wisdom in them, certainly. If there was something the Order didn’t need right now, it was another Fallen Jedi. With a sigh, she straightened her posture and grounded herself in the Force that was swirled around her and Leia. She would trust in it, for now.

“What is expected of us, Masters?” Leia spoke up, her voice assertive and unwavering. 

Obi-Wan smirked slightly. “We would like you to hunt and capture your brother. If our hunch is correct, he’ll want to assemble as much knowledge of the Ancient Sith as possible. That leaves him with a couple options; look for Dark holocrons or visit Sith planets. So, we have compiled a list of all the relevant Sith Worlds that may still contain the knowledge he so desires. We leave it up to your discretion at where to begin your search.” 

Leia arched an eyebrow in poorly concealed surprise. The Council was trusting a pair of newly promoted Knights to hunt down a Sith? Wasn’t this a bit too ambitious for their very first mission?

Yoda, sensing Leia’s conflict, chuckled lightly. “Ready, you both are, to face this task. Leia, know your brother well, you do. Predict his movements, you can. Mara Jade, strong in the Force, you are. A cool head you possess, and a determination to finish your task, whatever it may be. Trust in you completely, I do, to bring Luke Skywalker back.” 

The two Knights shared a look of mutual understanding and bowed to the Council. 

“We thank you for our assignment, and for your faith in us. We won’t fail.” Leia had never sounded so steadfast. Mara Jade could see how she had become popular among the other Jedi at the Temple. 

“Let’s get started.” 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . 

  
  


Something had shifted in the Force surrounding the Jedi Temple. The Light had churned and sang, like something of great importance had just occurred. It was invisible to the naked eye or Force-null, but to the black clad warrior in the crowd, it was clear as day. 

The Jedi Council had just moved against him, he was  _ sure _ of it. And somehow...his  _ sister _ was involved. He could feel her Force Presence inside the Temple. They had pitted her against him, just like he knew they would. It was a logical choice, to send the person who knew him best after him. They must think that he could still be turned back to the Light. 

Predictable. The Jedi had always been soft hearted and easy to manipulate, but this was just  _ too  _ easy. Now that they were taking drastic action and sending out their best agents, he could carry on with his plan. It would be significantly easier to execute with so many out of the Temple. 

He allowed himself a single crooked smile. Stealing the holocrons was going to be fun. 


	3. Search

Leia and Mara Jade had been fitted with their very own YT-1300 freighter, the _Venatrix_ , courtesy of the Council. Leia had taken an instant liking to it, while Mara had remained indifferent towards their new home at best. She had complained that it was too round and bulky to be at all reliable, which Leia flatly disagreed with. The _Venatrix_ may have been on the bulky side, but it was more than a match for any Republic Star Destroyer; Leia was sure of it. 

They quickly made themselves at home, since they would be out-of-temple for quite a bit. Not unexpectedly, they picked rooms that were far from each other. Leia’s room was messier than Mara’s; clothes were strewn about rather haphazardly and even a few knick knacks found their way into the nooks and crannies of the room. Mara’s quarters were organized and spotless, almost to a fault. No object lay out of its place, not one, and her closet was even color coordinated. Leia only knew this because she had let her ferocious curiosity overtake her in a moment of weakness. All she earned for her troubles was a glare befitting an Ancient Sith. 

And so they had taken off, the Nav Computer set for Sith Space. Ziost, specifically. They had deliberated heavily on which planet to head to first. Leia had suggested that they look for Dromund Kaas, but Mara countered with the fact that no one, not even the Jedi Archives, knew where it even was. Looking for it would only waste valuable time that they didn’t have. So Leia relented and went with Mara’s suggestion of Ziost, the former home-world of the Sith Empire. They had both agreed that Luke was likely to visit one of the home-worlds first because of their strong significance and ties to the Empire of old, something that he was probably so desperate to learn about. 

They had gotten there in thirteen hours. Mara had spent most of it meditating, while Leia had rustled around with nervous energy. She wanted, no, she _needed_ to rescue her brother. The impatience of her desire sat inside of her like a seed at the center of a rotten apple core. She tried to resolve her conflict by active meditation, but it was no good. Mara had roused out of her own trance at hour twelve and told off Leia for broadcasting her emotions so loudly. By that time, both women couldn’t go back to their activities, so they resolved themselves to sitting in the cockpit together. The streaming starlines were mesmerizing and oddly calming to Leia, but just as she thought she might forget about her brother, they disappeared. 

The _Venatrix_ had come out of hyperspace. They had arrived. 

“Let’s get down to the surface quickly. You’re no fun sulky.” Mara narrowed her eyes at Leia’s facetious tone.

“Well I wouldn’t _have_ to be sulky if you didn’t broadcast your feelings so loudly!” 

Leia grimaced slightly. Of course Mara would know why she was upset. “I’m sorry. There, I apologized. Now let’s not bring it up again.” 

They were silent the whole way down to the planet’s surface. 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . 

  
  


Anakin could feel his daughter’s retreating Force presence as it left Republic Space. It filled him with a strange kind of sorrow. He already had one child leave, and now another was also departing from the Temple for an undetermined amount of time. He felt the old possessive instincts kick in before he pushed it back down. Those were the exact instincts that almost led him to join the Sith. Anakin Skywalker had long suffered to bring those controlling urges to heel, much to his fellow Jedi’s enthusiasm. Now, Anakin finally felt _temperance,_ at long last. He let his children grow up and find themselves without his constant nagging and pushing. Padmé had even congratulated him on his admirable parenting skills, which earned a furious blush on his part. 

But his son had Turned. Fallen from the Light. That one singular event had pushed back years worth of his progress, and left him feeling hollow and defeated. _His parenting hadn’t been good enough._ Despite frequent reassurances to the contrary from Obi-Wan and the entire Temple itself really, Anakin blamed himself. He had _failed,_ whether he or anyone else said otherwise. 

And that was why he was restricted to the Temple until further notice. 

The Council had ordered him to stay in the Temple officially because of the possibility that Luke might come back and try to exact revenge on him for any perceived wrongs. He was freshly Fallen and was full of Dark Side emotion, so he could do potentially _anything._ It was for Anakin’s own safety, they assured him. But he knew the real, hidden truth. The Council was scared. Scared of him following in his offspring’s footsteps. They had seen just how volatile he was at the end of the Clone Wars, and that was before any serious event had even happened to spark his final Fall. Now, they worried, he finally had a reason to go Dark and reunite with his son. 

They were wrong, of course. 

Anakin felt empty, more than anything. More than anger, fear, or suffering, he felt _empty._ A deep, piercing depression that was almost a physical thing down inside of him. It was almost to the point of being unbearable. 

That was why the head of the Skywalker lineage was floating around the Temple like a ghoul with nobody to haunt. Leia, his beloved daughter, was gone on an important Jedi mission. Padmé, the brightest star in his universe, was dealing with some excruciatingly drab Senate business involving a Clones’ Rights bill. And even Obi-Wan had something to do, that being taking a class of Initiates to Ilum to receive their Kyber Crystal. He, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing occupying his time. 

That is, until he felt a faint pull of the Force in the back of his head. It started out small, just a little nagging sense that something or someone was nearby. But then the feeling started to grow. It grew and grew in prevalence until it was a crawling sensation of _danger danger danger!_ It screamed at him that _somebody_ he knew was here. _In the room with him!_ The worst part of the feeling was how _cold_ it was. It moved with slimy tendrils over his mind like a skate against smooth ice. 

Anakin snapped to attention. As long as he lived, he would never forget what the Dark Side felt like, and who was now the sole possessor of such power. 

“Luke! Come out! I can feel you here!” Luckily, no other Jedi was nearby to hear Anakin’s frantic call. But the ghastly presence he felt at the edge of his mind retreated sharply. Anakin somewhat impulsively tugged at the Dark string in his mind that still tethered him to his son, looking to establish a connection. If he could just find Luke, then he could _talk_ to him. Convince him to come back.

But Luke didn’t go for the bait. The Darkness retreated fully into the shadows and left Anakin all alone and cold where he was standing. 

“No! Come back! _Please,_ just talk to me!” Anakin burst into action, scouring every corner of the room for the presence he knew was there. He upturned tables, looked behind curtains, and peaked into every corner. His fruitless search led him to the double doors of the Holocron Vault. He craned his neck to look at the full grand scale of the doors; how had he ended up here? The trail had gone cold…

Or maybe it _hadn’t._ Maybe he had been subconsciously following it this whole time! But, of course, that meant that Luke wanted something in the Vault, which was only filled with Holocrons. He couldn’t use those now...unless he was after the forbidden Sith Holocrons? 

_Oh no. The Council is going to be furious._

_  
  
_

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

_  
  
_

Ziost was completely deserted. 

When Leia and Mara had landed, they had gotten out only to discover that nothing and nobody resided there out of choice anymore. The large towns that used to exist were ghostly and vacant. A fierce Ice Age was still clearly ravaging the planet, making the two Knights’ journey across the planet difficult. 

They intended to cover as much ground as possible before cutting their losses and going back out into space. First, they made their way to New Adasta, the capital city of the planet. They found nothing but faint traces of the old Darkness that used to collect there. However, on the very edge of the ruined city’s outskirts, there was something of interest. A still operational Sith Meditation Sphere. Nothing indicated that it had been used recently, but Leia and Mara both agreed that it needed to be hidden. So, against their instincts, they decided to pilot it away from the city and into the wastelands where it would _never_ be found. 

“Are you sure you want to be flying this thing Mara? I can do it if you-” 

“Yeah, no. I’m not trusting another Skywalker with a Sith warship.” 

Leia stiffened. That comment may have been justified, but it still stung. “Fine. Just try your best not to crash this thing. It’s so ancient I’m surprised it’s still holding together.” 

Mara nodded slightly and stilled. She could tell that this craft was meant for a Force User to interface with, which meant meditation. Lovely, more meditation. Like she hadn’t been doing twelve hours of that already on their ride over. _Focus, Mara._ She shook her head of the frustrated thoughts and found her center within the primordial Force that flowed so easily here. It felt prickly and strange, but not unwelcome. It was most likely the abandoned planet messing with her Force Sense. 

The Meditation Sphere was a flaring bright spot in her mind’s eye that glowed with a strange intelligence. Whatever technology built this thing, it was very advanced and almost ahead of its time. It was therefore easy to probe through the Force; the long sleeping machine woke up with a purr and connected with Mara through the temporary bond between them. It recognized her as a strong Force User and allowed her control of its systems, which were surprisingly easy to grasp. She could hear Leia gasp slightly as the old warship took to the skies. 

“So where are we dumping this thing?” Mara asked her companion. 

“Anywhere between the Citadel and New Adasta. Nobody would travel those wastelands willingly, even on a speeder, and with luck it’ll be snowed over and truly lost within the week.” 

The Sphere startled at Leia's words. It pulled at Mara’s mind with an alarming level of awareness. It whispered to her to _use me. Do not abandon me like all those before you. Use me to hunt down your rogue warrior! Surely you would rather be done sooner than later?_

Upon hearing the voice so clearly in her head, Mara jolted violently in her seat. She pushed back against the voice still trying to worm its way inside her head. _This is still a Sith ship,_ she reminded herself. _It’s only out to do you harm in the long run, despite the sweet poison it may spit._

“Mara? Are you okay? Is it the Sphere?” Leia’s concerned voice pulled Mara out of her mental battle. 

“Yes. It’s just that the ship has a mind of its own apparently. Nothing to get all twisted up over.” Mara’s sarcasm did nothing to curb Leia’s fear, however. 

“A mind of its own?! That’s not a very good thing for a Sith warship to have!” 

“Yeah, I know. Just let me concentrate, Skywalker. We’re almost there.”

And with a few more minutes of tense silence, they had arrived in the middle of nowhere. There was absolutely nothing of worth for miles and miles, which suited the duo just fine. This was the perfect spot to leave the Meditation Sphere.

“Say goodbye to your friend there, Jade. This is where we must part ways forever.” 

The Sphere _hated_ Leia for that comment, and it made sure Mara knew it too.

“I don’t think it likes you very much.” Mara said, a dry smile on her face. 

“Good. I wouldn’t have a Sith object feel any other way towards me, honestly.” 

And part ways with the Sphere, they did. Mara felt her fledgling bond with it snap, and with it a stab of remorse. Could they have done anything more with it? Maybe lure Luke into a trap with it as bait? No, that wasn’t an option. It was just her lingering connection with the ship talking. Nothing to be too worried about. 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


The long trek back to the _Venatrix_ was arduous, but neither woman complained. They were just happy to be back someplace familiar after a dreadful amount of time outside in the unforgivingly cold weather. What they were less happy about was the urgent beeping coming from their ship’s comlink. 

Leia rushed to answer it. “Yes?” 

“Where were you, Knight Skywalker? We’ve been pinging you for the past half hour.” The stern voice of Saesee Tiin came crackling through the comlink.

“Sorry, Master Tiin. Our wrist coms were out of range and we had to leave the ship to explore Ziost.” 

“Yes, well...we have news.” His voice suddenly went still, as if he was trying to steady himself. “The Holocron Vault. It was broken into. And your father was attacked.” 

_  
_


	4. Wounds

_“What?”_ Leia practically shrieked into the comlink. 

“He was in bad shape when we found him, but he is alive and not in danger of dying. He confirmed that your brother was the perpetrator before he was sent to the Healers.” 

Leia breathed a sigh of relief before fully processing what Tiin was saying. “I assume that the Council will be recalling us, then?” 

“You assume wrong, Knight Skywalker. I wanted to inform you of the recent developments as a courtesy. The Council still expects you to continue the mission as planned.” 

_“Excuse me?”_ Leia’s face scrunched up in barely concealed rage. “My father was hurt, and you expect us to just stay out here in the middle of nowhere?”

Master Tiin looked stoically back at Leia through the holoprojector with the trademarked Jedi cold stare. “We expect you to remain in Sith Space, yes. We suspect that Skywalker guessed our plan to send you out to find him, but it doesn’t change your mission. Now that he has the holocrons from the vault, his next objective should be to get as far away from the Temple as possible.” 

Leia grimaced as Mara forced her way to the front of the ship. She had apparently heard the commotion and was coming to voice her own opinion. 

“Master Tiin is right Leia. He’ll be long gone by now if he isn’t stupid. It would be a complete waste to go back to the Temple; it’s best if we just continue the mission as is and find him out here.” 

“Yeah, that might be tactically sound, but what about my _father?_ I want to see if he’s alright!” She couldn’t keep the rising concern out of her voice as she looked back and forth between her companion and the blue-shimmering Council member.  
  


“Your attachment to him is precisely why you _should not_ return. Your brother is most likely trying to hurt you, to anger you. Perhaps, with this grievous act of violence, he hopes to turn you to the Dark Side. You cannot let your feelings take hold of you, Leia Skywalker, lest they be used for evil.” 

Leia knew Master Tiin’s words were correct. It was not the Jedi way to feel emotions as acutely as she did. Still, it drove a dagger into her heart to acknowledge that the _mission,_ not her own father, should come first. She drew in a long, steadying breath, and then spoke again in a hard voice. 

“I won’t let that happen, Master. We’ll stay in Sith Space and keep looking.” 

Finally, Saesee Tiin looked satisfied. “Good. We will continue to touch base with you periodically, as discussed. May the Force be with you, Knights Skywalker and Jade.” 

“And with you, Master.” The two parroted back almost robotically. The holocall ended with a click. 

They looked at each other, weariness already beginning to set into both their eyes. 

“Where shall we go next, partner?” Mara said. 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


_Luke attacked me. My son attacked me. He attacked me._

That was all Anakin Skywalker could think as he was rushed to the Hall of the Healers. The thought turned over and over in his head like a stone down a never ending hill. He could feel the darkness of unconsciousness grab him in its smooth embrace as other Jedi stood over him in shock. 

_He came out of the shadows wrapped in black, dark cloak flowing in angry motion around him. His hood fell down in the sudden movement and exposed his longer blond hair and baleful yellow eyes._

_Anakin whipped out his lightsaber in time thanks to his battle hardened reflexes. His blue saber collided with his son’s red blade in an exquisite explosion of color. The two blades were locked in a stalemate until Luke kicked out into Anakin’s knee and forced him to bend over in pain. Instead of going prone, as was expected by his opponent, Anakin fully committed to his low position and threw himself to the side. He rolled onto the balls of his feet and shakily rose to a standing position._

_“Luke! Stop this, please! Come back to me, to your mother! We love you! Whatever happened to make you Fall, we can help you through it! I-”_

_He was cut off as Luke growled and launched himself forward. The movement was so sudden that it caught Anakin off guard. Luke’s red lightsaber slashed him across the shoulder before Anakin could recover enough of his senses to dodge._

_“There’s no ‘helping me through it’ father. What’s done is done. You are a sentimental_ fool _to think otherwise.”_

_Anakin grimaced, both in pain and deep sadness. “Is it really so sentimental to love my son? It’s not too late to come back, no matter what you say…” He choked back a sob. “You’ll always be a Skywalker.”_

_For a split second Luke faltered. It was so minuscule that if not for the Force, he would’ve missed it. There was the smallest dimming of the fire in his yellow eyes, almost as if Anakin’s declaration of love had smothered some of the storm within him._

_But it was gone as soon as other Jedi started filing into the room._

_An enormous surge of the Force pushed Anakin and the other Jedi out of the way. Luke pulled his hood over his head and slid back into the shadows of the Temple like a wraith. Now his presence in the Force was completely gone, as if he had never been there._

_The angry red sizzling of Anakin’s shoulder said otherwise._

“-kywalker? Is he awake?” 

A feminine voice pierced through Anakin’s murky haze. His surroundings were stark white and burning his half open eyes. 

“Yes, he’s waking up. Help me get him in an upright position. He needs to be alert when we ask him questions.” 

He felt gentle hands guide his body into a sitting position against a hard chair. As the Healers fussed over him, he was able to focus his gaze on his caretakers. One was a Mon Calamari and the other a Mirialan, and the Master of duo it seemed. 

“Master Skywalker, can you respond to us? You were only unconscious for about ten minutes.” 

He blinked at the Healers before fully processing what they were saying. “Yes, I can respond.” His throat felt dry, all of a sudden. 

The Mirialan sighed in relief. “That’s good, it means you’re not seriously damaged by the concussion.” 

Anakin startled. “A _concussion?_ I feel fine.” 

“You may feel alright now, but that is only because of the adrenaline of your battle. Once it wears off you _will_ be in pain, I assure you. When you were blasted back into the Vault doors, you hit your head pretty hard.” 

Oh yes, now Anakin remembered the enormous Force push that had knocked him out of commision. _That was one huge Push._

“I have a...blank spot in my memory around the time I blacked out. Did I do or say anything in that time frame?” 

The Mon Calamari fidgeted in place nervously while the Mirialan Master looked down at the glossy white floor and then back to her patient. “You kept muttering his name while we were carrying you to this room.” 

Anakin didn’t respond. Now the whole Temple probably knew of this debacle and were gossiping about it. His head burned just thinking about it. 

“How long before I can return to my normal duties?” 

The Mirialan looked grateful to be back on a familiar topic. “Seven to ten standard days would be my estimate. I recommend that you refrain from partaking in any complex or stressful mental or physical exercises for at least that amount of time. Worsening your concussion at this point would only restrict you to the Temple longer, which I’m sure you would rather avoid.” 

Anakin gave her a look that was a cross between a smirk and a sneer. “I don’t know doc, I may be here forever if the Council doesn’t lift my travel ban.” The Mon Calamari padawan rushed to his side as he made an attempt to rise from the examination chair. Anakin had to push down his desire to shoo her away. He was a hero of the Clone Wars, dammit, he didn’t need help getting out of a chair! 

“My name is Anthea, and I will be your primary Healer. My padawan learner is Cilghal. If you will be contained to the Temple for the time being, you may as well know our names.” 

Anakin curtly nodded as he finally found his footing. “I’ll try not to foist myself upon you too often.” 

As he turned to leave from the Hall of Healers, he heard Anthea chuckle lowly. 

“I’ve treated my fair share of Skywalkers, and in my experience you never quite manage to keep promises like that.” 

Instead of responding to the lighthearted comment, Anakin just found himself frowning and thinking deeply on how it all went wrong. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


Sith Space, as it turns out, was not actually that extensive. 

The Old Sith Empire had not expanded out beyond twenty three or so planets at a time, and only a third of that number were uniquely prominent. Leia and Mara had debated endlessly on where to go next within that third. Leia had suggested Korriban, the most infamous of all the Sith Worlds among the Jedi. She argued that because it was so pronounced in both Jedi and Sith history Luke was most likely planning on visiting soon. Mara Jade had agreed that it was indeed likely, but she pointed out that Luke was the ambitious sort. He was hotheaded and direct in his thinking, which led Mara down to the conclusion she had been dreading. _Dromund Kaas._ He would want to dive straight to the core of the Sith, and that meant the Capital of the Empire. As much as she abhorred the idea of going straight to the evil beating heart of the galaxy, it couldn’t be helped. She felt in her gut, in the Force, that Dromund Kaas was where they would find Luke Skywalker. It was a dull ache in her chest that just would not relent. If this was what the Force willed, who was she to deny it? 

So, eventually seeing the unflinching resolve in Mara Jade’s eyes and Force Signature, Leia agreed. Now all the two Knights had to do was _find_ the damn planet. It had been notorious among the Masters and Senior Knights in the Temple for being a still bustling hub of Dark Side energy, but no Jedi could seem to find it. Many had been sent out on missions to discover its location, but they all had come back empty handed. The Ancient Sith had done _too_ good a job on destroying any record of it, it seemed. 

Bu, perhaps a different approach was in order. 

Leia had insisted that they stop by a midway point between Sith Space and the rest of the Outer Rim. If they wanted to gage correctly how much of a threat her brother truly was now, they needed information. The Outer Rim was never quiet when it came to rumors on Jedi and the enemies of the Republic, and the gossip spreading around could be used to their advantage. 

Conveniently, there was a system that lay between the Stygian Caldera and the Tapani sector. There was a planet popularly nicknamed “Smuggler’s Rock” that was orbited by two moons, Tekram I and Tekram II. The aptly named Rock itself was a little too mountainous to be comfortably habitable by its criminal visitors, but the moons were perfectly suitable. They were dotted with grimy pop-up towns and bustling spaceports that drew in the criminal element like moths to a lightsaber. This was where the two Knights would blend in and listen for clues and hints to Luke’s current whereabouts or status as a new Sith Lord. 

Touching down on Tekram II, Leia could already feel the overwhelming feel of intoxication through the Force. The sense of an oppressive hazy cloud hanging over the spaceport was anything but pleasant. 

“You feel it too?” Mara asked from her side, all dressed up in her preferred clothes. The red headed Knight had chosen a perfectly cleaned light set of armor to wear, paired with knee high boots and grey arm gauntlets. 

“Yeah. Let’s get this over with quickly so we don’t have to _keep_ feeling it.” Leia had chosen to don her Mandalorian set of heavy armor. She would rather err on the side of caution; they didn’t know what they were walking into. Anything could happen, and Leia would rather be prepared for the worst. 

They made their way into the spaceport proper after a light mind trick on the shipyard keeper. No use in spending more credits than they had to in this wretched place. The buildings of the port were clearly erected not too long ago, the paint shimmering and new in some places. Outer Rim civilians and criminals intermixed seamlessly as the crowd moved and swelled with the natural flow of civilization. The majority of the people were either headed to the cantina or the market, both destinations rife with illegal dealings that would be suitable to the Jedi’s purposes.

“Why don’t we split up? I’ll go to the cantina while you investigate the market?” Leia suggested. 

Mara looked skeptical at best, exasperated at worst. “Fine, but don’t expect me to run to your aid when you inevitably lose a sabacc game in this wretched hive of scum and villainy.” 

“Don’t worry, if I _do_ call for you, it’ll be to rub my winnings in your face.” Leia flashed Mara a look worthy of Anakin Shywalker at his snarkiest. 

Mara scoffed. “Well, well, I never took you for the gloating type, Skywalker. You disgrace the Jedi Order with your arrogance!” She emphasized her words with a flourish that Leia recognized as her usual biting sarcasm. She smiled slightly; Mara was finally opening up to their partnership. 

“Yes, well. You never truly know someone until you’ve been on a Sith hunting mission with them.” Mara nodded. “I’ll see you back at the shipyard before second dusk, alright?” 

“Right.” Mara affirmed. 

And with a final glance between them, they parted ways. Leia placed her distinctive Mandalorian helmet over her head as she veered off towards the raucous cantina. She didn’t want her real face to be seen-or remembered-in this kind of seedy and untrustworthy environment. She would rather the clientele see her as just another impassive Mandalorian bounty hunter, in for a quick drink and out just as fast. After all, most ordinary folk didn’t mess around with heavily armored warriors just for kicks. 

But this cantina wasn’t filled with ‘ordinary folks’, clearly. 

When Leia had first entered the bar, there was already a fight breaking out. A drunken Zabrak was lunging at a furious Wookiee with a broken beer bottle, shouting almost incoherently all the while. His words were a slurring mix of his native Zabrak tongue and vulgar words in Basic that no self respecting man would ever utter. It only served to make the Wookiee angrier. 

She sidestepped all this commotion and pulled up a barstool. She ordered a simple shot of basic Liquor from the scowling bartender who was not so discreetly snarling at the two combatants in the center of his pub. At least she wasn’t the only one who had a distaste for unnecessary violence. 

But just as she was about to intervene in the escalating brawl, she heard a low, scratchy voice next to her speak up. 

“Hey, cut it out will ya Chewie? The bartender is gettin’ tired of you prolonging the inevitable.” The man who had just spoken to the fighting Wookiee was a square jawed human who was dressed in the tell tale garb of a scoundrel. He was leaning casually against the bar, swiveled in his chair to face his friend and by coincidence, Leia. She had a full view of his ruffled brown hair and weathered facial features, which were certainly charming by a conventional standard. But there was something more about this ruffian that she just couldn’t place. 

“Hey, buddy, you got a problem?” 

Suddenly, snapping out of her reverie, Leia noticed that she had turned herself so that she could stare freely at the man sitting next to her. She had probably been staring at him for far longer than was socially acceptable. 

“No, no problem.” She answered curtly. 

“Well, ain’t that great. I’m not too keen on tangling with a Mando right about now, if I’m being honest.” 

Leia crossed her arms, figuring that it was a safe gesture to utilize. This man definitely spoke like a scoundrel, but what specific _kind_ of scoundrel was he? 

“I wouldn’t worry about ‘tangling’ with me. I’m just passing through, grabbing a quick drink is all.” At this remark, the scoundrel laughed. 

“Buddy, we’re _all_ passing through this dump of a moon. Though, I find it odd that you would choose this place to relax. It’s not the most calm of places.” He inclined his head towards the fight that was still raging between his companion “Chewie” and the Zabrak. The Wookiee had the horned man in a vice grip now, an act that filled the already stifling cantina with the gasping sounds of a choking man. 

"It was the closest place to where I was headed. Didn't have a choice but to set down here.” 

He nodded slightly. “Reasonable enough, I suppose. You on the lookout for potential jobs, perhaps?” His mouth crooked in a sly smirk. 

“Maybe. Depends on the job, and the person offering it.” 

“In that case, may I show you the biggest payday you’ve ever seen? Who am I kidding, of course I can.” He pulled out a holoprojector from nowhere; where in the Sith Hells was he keeping that thing? Leia arched an eyebrow behind her mask. She mentally marked down _sleight of hand_ in this man’s arsenal of tricks. 

The projector powered on and displayed an image that sent Leia’s Force senses swimming. 

“May Han Solo present Luke Skywalker, renegade Jedi apprentice! Worth a humongous sum of two million credits!” He paused for dramatic effect, smirking even wider. “They must be absolutely insane to put that high a bounty on a kid! He’ll be swarmed by so many hunters and contractors he won’t know what hit him! I kinda feel sorry for him.” 

Leia blanched. It wasn’t Luke she felt sorry for in this situation. All those hunters and contractors now looking for him…

They wouldn’t survive their encounter. The Sith Lord her brother had become wouldn’t allow it. 

  
Suddenly, this _Han Solo_ had become a lot more important to her mission.


	5. Usurper

Mara Jade pushed roughly through the crowd that milled around her. The two celestial bodies in the sky had risen to their highest point, letting her know that she only had five hours left to go until second dusk. The market had been a dead end; the only information there seemed to be of smuggler hyperlanes, spice cartel dealings, and spacer crew meeting places. She had hovered around some of the more conspicuous groups, but once they spotted her staring they moved on. Clearly she wasn’t going to get anywhere being as noticeable as she currently was. 

That was how she had come to be standing in line for the refresher right next to the cantina. There was nothing more inconspicuous than waiting to use the facilities. She tapped her foot anxiously while scanning the faces in the crowd for anything worthy of her attention. Eventually, her eyes caught on a human man amicably chatting with his associates. He had shimmering black hair slicked back and carefully groomed. His facial hair was similarly well kept, giving him a refined and respectable air. Mara scoffed lightly; no truly respectable man would try so hard to appear upstanding and approachable. _Still,_ she thought, _he cleans up nicely for a criminal._

She turned her Force enhanced senses onto his conversation with the men surrounding him. The other men’s emotions were hot and nervous, and their thoughts raced with agitation at the new information they were being given. 

_“We have to beef up security if what you’re telling us is true, Karrde.”_ A man in a fine silk cape said. _“Now that the Collective’s leadership is gone our operations might be exposed to the Republic. We need to hire more smugglers to run the shipments, bribe more pirates to protect them.”_ The man speaking began to perspire heavily. Who the hell were these people and what was making them so anxious? 

_“I would offer my services on that front, Sarveris, but I’m afraid that the potential risk of discovery is just too high for my liking. Getting on the Republic’s bad side would not be preferable at this delicate time of transition, you understand.”_ At Karrde’s words, the other men nodded. Reluctance and a smidgen of regret rolled off of them in waves. _“However, I would never leave my loyal business partners out in the cold without anything at all. I have a number of friends that would be happy to run spice or whatever else, no questions asked. I’m sure you’d appreciate that in these trying times, yes?”_

The lone Pyke Syndicate member present at the gathering crossed his arms. _What would you be getting out of offering us these “friends” of yours? We don’t like being in debt to anyone, much less a smuggler kingpin like you.”_

Karrde’s innocent smile never reached his blue eyes. _“I require no such debt from you or the Collective. I merely expect you to pay my friends the agreed upon price and continue our working relationship as it has always been. It is that simple.”_

The Force stilled around the group as the finality of their situation sank in. Karrde smiled again, and this time it lit up his features like a lothcat at suppertime. He had ensnared his prey, and they were none the wiser. Mara Jade strangely found herself congratulating Karrde for a con well played inside the privacy of her own head. His boldness and honeyed words had charmed her despite his dastardly intentions. Listening to him had not been a waste, even with no new useful information gained. She had simply enjoyed witnessing a job well done. 

But as she was about to step into the refresher to take her turn, Karrde spoke again. 

_“One more thing, gentlemen. Do be careful of the Usurper. I heard that he might be a Jedi renegade, and that’s the last thing you need on your tail right now. Anyways, chow!”_

Mara jolted out of her concentration in alarm. Jedi renegade? He must have been talking about Luke. But why call him the _Usurper?_ He had already done something worthy of a title, it seemed. Karrde must know of it, if he knew of Luke in the first place. 

Suddenly, this _Karrde_ character had become a lot more important to her mission. 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


Leia had immediately started grilling Solo on what he knew about Luke Skywalker and how far knowledge of the bounty had spread. 

“Hey, look, I don’t know much alright? All I heard was that he became a fugitive from the great and illustrious Jedi Order a couple standard weeks ago. Apparently he killed one of ‘em and now they’re out lookin’ for him. I don’t know who placed the bounty, but I wouldn’t put it past the Republic or the Shadow Collective. Both groups got a reason for wantin’ him captured.” 

Leia inclined her head in an outward gesture of interest. She could easily guess why the Republic would put out a Bounty for Luke, but what was this Shadow Collective he spoke of? It sounded like an organization, but Leia had never heard of it before. Odd. Usually the Jedi knew of every major criminal enterprise from the Core to even the Outer Rim. 

“The Shadow Collective? Why would they have a stake in this?” 

Han Solo grinned incredulously. “You’re seriously asking me _why_ they care? You truly _must_ be out of the loop, friend.” Before continuing, Solo stole a quick glance through the cantina, scanning for any threats or eavesdroppers. He dropped his voice to just barely above a whisper. “Rumor has it, the Collective got its _head_ chopped off.” He made a gesture with two fingers across his throat and a dramatic gurgling sound. “But, if you really want to know the nitty gritty of the whole mess...I think I might need a little more _compensation_ for my trouble.”

Leia gaped at him from behind her helmet; of kriffing _course_ he wanted money. How foolish of her to think that he might be decent enough to give her the information for free. 

“I only have a few Republic credits left. Spent most of them refueling my ship.” 

Solo wiggled his eyebrows in suspicion as he looked her up and down for must have been the fifth time. “That’s fine, as long as you’ve got something. This type of information is dangerous and could get the holder in trouble if anything were to leak unexpectedly, you understand. I just can’t take the risk for some guy I don’t know without some kind of sweetened deal.” 

She rolled her eyes. She reached into her bag and pulled out some credit chips. She slid them over to the scoundrel across the tabletop. 

“Thank you for your kind consideration. What was I saying? Oh yes, the Shadow Collective. Word is that they’ve been running around like a chicken without its head. A few weeks ago their glorious and unstoppable leader never turned up to a big meeting they were holding. A few agents were dispatched to investigate his disappearance, and low and behold, what they found was _truly_ shocking. His corpse.” 

Leia was suddenly glad for her helmet. If Solo had seen her shocked expression he might have been inclined to laugh his head off. “The Jedi killed the leader of the Collective?” 

“That’s the story, yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republic gives the guy a medal for single-handedly dealing with the worst criminal conglomerate this side of the Outer Rim. The GAR has been cracking down on crime lately, but they just couldn’t catch the Collective’s head honcho. Makes you wonder how the Jedi kid even got close enough to gank him.” He paused and draped his arm casually across the bar. “You thinking about pursuing this guy?” 

“With all the info you so graciously parted with, how can I pass this opportunity up?” 

“Yeah well, good luck. Apparently you’ll be needing it.” He stood up from his stool and brushed himself off. “Chewie, let’s go! We can’t keep Karrde waiting forever.” 

Leia found herself watching Solo depart from the cantina. He sauntered away without a second glance and dipped into friendly conversation with his Wookiee companion. Right before Leia lost sight of him he flashed Chewie a grin and showed him the credit chips he had acquired. 

She sighed. He may have been a handsome devil, but he was still a devil nonetheless. 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


Mara had been trailing Karrde for a few minutes before he suddenly dissolved into the crowd and out of her line of sight. She looked around, but the bustling marketplace had swallowed him up completely. 

She was just about to push forward and look for him elsewhere when she heard a silky whisper in her ear. “Now why would someone as pretty as you be following little old me?” 

She reacted to his proximity instinctively and reached for her lightsaber hilt, only to realize that she had hidden it inside the intricate folds of her armor. 

“Whoa there, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just curious why you were tailing me.” 

Mara reached out to him with her Force sense and determined that he was telling the truth. There was nothing overtly dangerous about his mood or body language, so she made the snap decision to trust him. “Well I couldn’t help but notice that you’re an information broker and kingpin. I’ve recently encountered a shortage of information lately, which I would like to rectify. Think you could help me out on that front, since you’re more than qualified?” 

She felt a surge of self gratification from Karrde. Clearly he liked being complimented. 

“Of course, for the right people I would do anything.” He held out his hand in a gesture of formal greeting. “Talon Karrde, at your service ma’am. And you are…?” 

Mara clasped his hand and shook with a strong grip. “Jade. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” 

He smiled at her. “Well Jade, what would you like to know?” 

“The Shadow Collective. Who are they? I’ve heard whispers, but nothing concrete.” She lowered her voice so that no eavesdroppers could hear. 

A shadow crossed Karrde’s face. “Dangerous folk of the criminal variety, darling. They are a collection of the worst gangs and syndicates in the galaxy, all brought together by two Red Blades. One of ‘em died a while back, but the other kept on running the show. He ruled as the head of the Collective from the throne of Mandalore for a time, until he was toppled. Reports vary on who overthrew him, some say it was a Jedi and some say it was another Red Blade. But regardless, he continued on as leader of the Collective until a few standard weeks ago. His people found his body run through by a lightsaber on a desolate planet. The word going around is that the Jedi runaway killed him, which would not surprise me in the slightest.” 

Mara’s head swam with all the information she was being fed. So Luke had killed the head of a prominent criminal organization? What was his motive, and why just leave the body unattended? 

“Do you know which planet the leader’s body was found on?” 

Karrde’s eyes flickered with interest at her unusual question. “Malachor, I believe. Why is it important to you?” 

“Oh, no particular reason, just curious. But do you also happen to know anything else regarding the Jedi runaway? He sounds like someone I should know a thing or two about.” 

Karrde’s thoughts suddenly churned faster and his expression became more suspicious. What had she said to put him on guard? 

“Luke Skywalker is his name. He killed a Master of the Order and made off with a few of their holocrons several standard days ago. He also happens to have a bounty placed on him. Dead or alive for two million credits. No one knows where he is now.” He said. 

Despite Mara's best efforts, her face fell in disappointment. “Alright, thank you. Your information was most helpful.” She turned away from him in an motion to escape back into the busy crowd, but he grabbed her shoulder. Apparently he wasn't done with her just yet. 

“Wait a moment, dear. We still haven’t discussed my price for the information.” 

  
_Of course._ She sighed and stuck a hand into her pouch of credits, only for Karrde to reach out and touch her again. She jerked her hand away out of reflex, revulsion involuntarily passing over her features.

“I don’t necessarily require credits as payment. A favor to be repaid at a later date would satisfy me just as well, perhaps even soften me up to future deals between us?” 

Mara narrowed her eyes at him and tried to scan him through the Force again. Nothing struck her as distinctly malicious or untrustworthy, but she did sense a flowering seed of anticipation within him, like he was waiting to see if she took the bait. The feeling unsettled her, but there was no concrete evidence he was conning her, and thus no good reason to refuse him just one favor. 

“Fine. I’ll give you my com frequency then, so you can reach me.” She said with as straight a face as she could conjure. 

“Excellent. I look forward to meeting you again in the future, Miss Jade.” 

  
  


. . . . . . . . . . . . .

  
  


Leia was slipping silently through the crowd, following Solo and his Wookiee friend all the way back to their ship. When he had left the cantina she could feel the Force almost violently urging her to stay on his tail. The pull of it was too strong for Leia’s curious mind to resist, so she had been tracking his movements through the popup town like a hungry Krayt Dragon. So far he had done nothing of interest. Occasionally some stranger-or perhaps acquaintance of his-would knock into him and start up friendly chatter. Solo never let these little meetings run on too long; he would always push Chewie forward and grumble some half-cocked excuse. Leia found it to be strangely charming, how he would gesticulate with his hands awkwardly and model his body language after whoever he was talking to. It was against her better nature to get sucked in, but she couldn’t help it. There was just  _ something _ about him that she felt inexplicably drawn to, and the Force wasn’t helping matters either. 

It pulled her along a thin thread towards him. Whenever she lost him in the busy crowd, the Force would guide her back into a favorable position with clear line of sight. It was almost too easy to sink into the flowing river of the Living Force and see his jagged and unrefined outline moving through the market. His signature held no potential for training as a Jedi, but he had just enough of the Force to be unnaturally lucky, it seemed. His feet deftly evaded pitfalls and his way with words charmed most of the people he encountered. It piqued Leia’s interest. 

But before she could contemplate his Force sensitivity any longer, they had arrived at his transport. 

_ What a piece of junk.  _

His ship appeared to be a YT-1300 freighter like the  _ Venatrix, _ but it looked heavily modified and tricked out, so much so that it had to be against regulation. Furthermore, the ship looked at least pre Clone Wars era, so it had to be old. How was he keeping it at top flying shape? Everything she learned about Han Solo just seemed to add to his mystery instead of answer her pre-existing questions. 

“Fire her up, Chewie. We gotta meet Karrde at Hijarna for that Smugglers’ Alliance meeting he mentioned. We don’t want to miss this big job he’s setting up.” 

Chewie roared an affirmative. At least, Leia thought it was an affirmative. She hadn’t learned all of Shyriiwook yet. 

_ Leia, I think I have some info that’ll be useful for us.  _ She heard Mara’s voice clearly in her head, the words traveling down the Force Bond they now shared.  _ I got it from some gangster smuggler, Talon Karrde. I’ll tell you the details when we meet back up at the ship.  _

Leia perked up and almost bumped her head against the durasteel beam she was hiding under.  _ Talon Karrde?  _ Solo had just mentioned him! Was this why the Force had pushed her towards him? It must be! 

She scrambled out of her hiding place and began bolting to the  _ Venatrix.  _ They needed to follow Han to the Smugglers’ Alliance meeting. The Force was singing its approval, a graceful melody in her sharply tuned ears. 

_ Mara, meet me at the Venatrix  _ now.  _ We have to follow Karrde offworld. I don’t know how exactly, but he’s how we’ll find Luke.  _


	6. Interlude in the Ice Caves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was suddenly struck with inspiration and my muse just demanded that I write this chapter. Sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled plot, but I promise this'll be important in the long run! Sit back and enjoy this little Obi-Wan interlude with a nice hot cup of tea.
> 
> (I wrote this chapter with this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFwIf9FR4pg playing. listen to it while you read and I think it'll really enhance the experience). :)

Obi-Wan Kenobi is standing at the entrance of the largest cave on Ilum. He is tapping his foot in a fit of impatience that is unusual for the aged Jedi Master. He had been so serene and at peace ever since the end of the Clone War. The oppressive Darkness that had been so foul and strong those many years ago had finally lifted off of his shoulders, and it showed. Obi-Wan’s spirit returned to him with such a fervor that it struck Anakin with a pang of heartbreak. His Master eagerly engaged with him again, his spitfire attitude that had been present when Anakin was a senior padawan fully rearing its head. His quips were sarcastic and his smile was infectious. He took to training Leia like a fish to the sea. Nothing could pierce through his pure contentment and ruin his perpetual good mood, it seemed. 

But of course, like everything in the universe, even this angelic sense of peace had to atrophy away. 

Luke Skywalker’s Fall had been terrible for Anakin, but it hit Obi-Wan Kenobi just as hard. He had buried his head in his former padwan’s tunic and cried. They had hugged each other for what seemed like hours, reaching out and intertwining their Force presences together for comfort. What Obi-Wan didn’t know was that Anakin had done the same thing with Padme just hours earlier. But, the old master knew that his tears would just push Anakin deeper into depression. So he had pulled himself up from his bootstraps and put on a stoic disguise. He did what he could for everyone who had needed his guidance and comfort, but he dared not reveal how much _he himself_ was hurting. He kept himself busy with Leia’s Knight trial preparation and Padme’s Clone’s Rights Bill. He did everything in his not inconsiderable power to push away the serrated knife that was still stabbing at his insides and brutalizing his heart. 

Ignoring the problem would not make it simply disappear, he knew. But it was the _only way_ he knew how to deal with the pain. It had always worked before, so why wouldn’t it work now? 

That was how Obi-Wan had continued on for the standard weeks that followed Luke’s Fall to the dark Side. And it was how he had ended up here, on Ilum, leading a group of bright-eyed Jedi younglings on their expedition to gain their own Kyber crystals. They had just scampered into the cavern, jostling and laughing all the way down into the depths of the unknown. Oh how old Kenobi wished he could look that cheerful again. 

His foot touched the brittle ice with a rhythmic tap that only sent Obi-Wan deeper into his own thoughts and the Force surrounding him. He easily sensed the younglings deep in the cave system, but there was something else he was picking up besides them. It was an undercurrent of energy that lined the Force churning inside the cavern. It felt like it did not belong there, like it had been _forced_ there instead of occuring naturally. Obi-Wan’s curious mind drifted towards the mysterious energy instinctively; his lust for knowledge had not abandoned him yet. Reaching out with extensions of himself through the Force, he examined the foriegn energy closely. It felt like it had originated from primordial Darkness, if the chilling cold it gave off was any indication. It flowed with a vigor, greedily grasping at everything and nothing as if it was alive. Obi-Wan pushed his mind closer to it and started to prod at it to extract more concrete information of its origin and purpose. No such secrets offered themselves to him, but the energy _noticed_ him when he inevitably prodded too hard. The energy, no, the Dark Side residue, rushed towards his mind and pooled around him. It began to peer into him just as he had been peering into it. 

The sudden invasion of his mind by the Dark Side tendrils was not horribly painful or terrifying like Obi-Wan expected it to be. Instead, the residue slid inside his thoughts with a fluid motion that felt like a slippery snake sliding over stones. It curled around him like a cold embrace and stimulated the pleasure centers of his brain. Involuntarily, he reached out to the energy and held it close. He took the opportunity and looked inside of it for the original owner of this Dark power. 

Now, sensing an imminent victory, the Dark Side remnant divulged its secrets to the Jedi Master it had ensnared. 

Obi-Wan felt his body gasp slightly at the information he was uncovering. This Darkness had come from Luke Skywalker, and he had used it to extract a Kyber crystal from this very cave system. The crystal had been broken and then bled, as if it was just some common tool. But that wasn’t all Obi-Wan felt from the Darkness. It whispered to him the most dreadful facet of Luke’s Fall: the Sith Lords of the ancient Empire were once more returned. They had nudged the Skywalker boy towards his first act of true evil-the killing of Master Mace Windu-and welcomed themselves into his newly fractured mind. It had been an easy thing to firmly plant themselves inside of him. He was the _only_ true Sith in the galaxy, and an exceptionally powerful one at that. 

_He would bring an era of ultimate terror down upon the galaxy. They knew it to be true._

_Born from the one with no father except the Force_. 

_Abandoned by the one he called Sister. Ignored by the one he called Master. Encouraged, nurtured, and accepted by the ones he called Sith Lords._

The terrible, beautiful truth of it came crashing down on Obi-Wan all at once. It was so artfully simple, now that he had the whole picture presented to him. Luke Skywalker had had no _choice_ but to Fall. No choice at all. When destiny comes calling, it must be heeded. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One the Prophecy had spoken of, rejected Destiny’s siren song. The Force had no option then but to curse his _children_ with the burden of balancing what he could not. The rise of the Dark Side is a necessity, one that Anakin had tossed aside for the sake of personal happiness. 

But his son would be stronger than him. The Darkness would rise tenfold in Luke, and it would _not_ be denied any longer. 

Throughout Obi-Wan’s heavy deliberation, the Dark Side remnant that Luke had carelessly left behind had latched onto the Jedi Master’s opened mind. It saw into him and recognized untapped potential. When Obi-Wan had fitted all the pieces together and looked at the whole picture, the tiny sliver of resistance he had still been harboring faded away. The invading Darkness no longer felt unwelcome; now it was merely another part of him. He connected with it seamlessly, and as he did so the whispering voices withered away. They melded with his own thoughts and became his inner voice. There was a freeing quality to it all, he thought. His turmoil and depression at Luke’s Fall were resolved and released from him in an immensely satisfying moment. 

That didn’t mean that he was suddenly completely fine with Luke’s turn, but now it was much more bearable. A weight had lifted off his shoulders, mirroring the end of the Clone Wars. It did not feel quite like the unbridled happiness he had experienced back then, but it was startlingly close. 

“Master Kenobi? Are you okay?” 

A youthful voice stirred Obi-Wan out of his reverie unpleasantly. He blinked open his eyes and looked at the gaggle of gathered younglings before him. They had all made it back with their lightsaber crystals in hand, but several of them were staring at him with concern glimmering in their innocent eyes. 

“Yes of course I am alright. I see you all passed the trial.” 

They nodded at him, concern melting away into glee. But the one youngling girl at the head of the group frowned at him. 

“Master, you were acting weird.” Her little voice stuttered slightly. 

He knelt down next to her and tilted his head. “What do you mean? Weird how?” 

She moved closer to him and pressed her lips to his ear. She whispered to him. “You were swaying like you were in a trance. And…” She trailed off. Obi-Wan could sense nervousness spike in her Force signature. “When you opened your eyes to look at us...they were a different color.” 


End file.
